Art from the Inside Photo Book Order

This past year United Way Monterey County entered into a unique partnership with a group from the Soledad Correctional Facility to support Stuff the Bus. The men had heard of the annual drive to collect and distribute school supplies to students who are homeless and wanted to get involved. With over 8,220 children experiencing homelessness in Monterey County, United Way knew we could use all the help we could get!

The Life C.Y.C.L.E. (Careless Youth Corrected by Lifer’s Experience) participants raised $1,000 from other inmates and still wanted to do more. So, they decided to use their talents to create artwork that would be sold to help fund Stuff the Bus. The art was featured in a week-long show, Art From the Inside: A Backpack Redemption, at The Press Club in Seaside. The pieces were then sold through an online auction. All together, Life C.Y.C.L.E. raised a total of $2,425 - enough money to give 121 children their own brand new, fully supplied backpack.

To commemorate the outstanding contributions of these talented artists, United Way created a photobook of the donated art. The photobook includes photos of the artwork and letters from the artists explaining what moved them to get involved as well as information about Stuff the Bus. We are pleased to make the books available for a donation of $30. This is a limited time opportunity. Please make your donation by December 20 to receive one of these photobooks. You can make your donation here.

Please note that to offer these photobooks at the lowest cost, all of the books must be ordered at the same time. Therefore, you must meet the donation deadline of December 20 to receive a book. No exceptions can be made. Because of this timeline, we regret that we are not able to accommodate delivery prior to the holiday season. If you plan to give this photobook as a gift, we respectfully suggest using an account of your donation that notifies the recipient of your gift and then sharing the book upon its arrival.

The estimated delivery time in the Monterey office of United Way is early January. Once the books have arrived, we will notify everyone who asked for one that the books are available. Those who live in Monterey County can arrange to pick up their photobooks at either our Monterey or Salinas offices. United Way will ship photobooks to those who reside outside of the area.